[Paavan Shetty]

The Initial Regret!

Hello BHPians! It's a bit of a shame that I'm writing my first proper detailed review/post on this forum 4 years after joining a place where I feel right at home. Nevertheless as it is said, "It's never too late!". For some weird reason, I kept on postponing writing a good read, thinking I'm the busiest or the most loaded (everyone have their own set of issues to handle, so clearly I'm wrong in thinking so!) person. Back in 2019 when I joined the forum, I had kept photos of my then comparatively new YAMAHA R15 V2 ready to write a travelogue on the innumerous trips I did on the bike, but never wrote one!

Inception of the journey...

So finally the time comes to pen down my thoughts. So as the post title would suggest this post will be more about my current vehicle, the Ninja 300 2022 MY and my adventures with it. But before that I would give a brief intro about my love for automobiles in general and my journey so far! So sit back and enjoy the long read!

The curiosity and love for automobiles was in me from the moment I started to understand the world around me as a kid and it just kept on growing, to become my everything from profession to daily activities. As a kid I used to be fascinated by all machines around me, especially automobiles, for them being moving one's! And my father used to ensure that his son doesn't get disappointed on his birthdays, with those automotive toys ranging from 2W's, 4W's and even rikshaws!


My second birthday pic with one of my favorite toys! The Rikshaw!

And the madness kept getting bigger, as I reached my engineering studies (I had decided myself at a young age that I would be nothing other than an automobile engineer!), where I got my first chance to exploit this love of mine. I joined our college Formula Student Team as a young prodigy full of energy to be unleashed. And in true fashion my then team captain, friends and even my family supporter me a lot to give my best in what I loved to do. I started that little journey (3years - from 2nd year to 4th year of the engineering course) with tuning the KTM DUKE 390 engine using Performance Electronics ECU - PE3 (USA based aftermarket ECU maker) and on the way built custom cooling system (the engine being used in a car weighing around 230kgs gives out more energy in the form of heat due to the increased load) and became on the team drivers, especially for the acceleration and endurance events (kind of makes total sense considering the fact that I weighed less at 62kgs and knew the engine performance IN and OUT). The journey ended on a high note with our team (Team Octane Racing representing COEP college) gaining it's best result till that date, standing in at 4th in the event and we embarking on a journey to turbocharge (to take on our fellow competing colleges some of which had the mighty 600cc engines from Honda, Kawasaki and KTM) the crazy 390cc engine from Austria! But as is with all good things, part of the journey being the end, I got separated from my college team work as I got placed in Chennai R&D center of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, miles away from Pune, to give any kind of support to the team in the tough job that they had in their hand! (The team did a splendid job of successfully turbocharging the beast in next two years albeit with a healthy hand of help from BAJAJ AUTO R&D center; in the process making India's only turbocharged KTM 390cc engine!)


Our team (me doing the customary rituals) praying the newly sponsored KTM 390cc engine (by BAJAJ AUTO) to support us all round the year!


The last car of our team that I rode as a driver and the 3rd one designed and manufactured by my batch.


The Honeywell Sponsored Turbocharger (the same is actually used in the TATA ACE 2 cylinder diesel engine!) modified for our unique application.


The turbo setup on our 2018 car! One last of it's kind ; after which the team switched to electric powertrain!

But life is all about embracing new challenges and adventures and I started my hyper riding journey from there on.

Start of the hyper riding journey…

The craze of owning and experiencing the driving dynamics of a sports bike was rooted in my mind from childhood as most of us enthusiasts have those dream bike posters on our walls. It all came true in 2017 when I graduated as a mechanical engineer and stepped into the real world of automotive engineering, with the purchase of the segment conquering Yamaha R15.Having previously owned the venerable HERO HF DELUXE, this was a huge jump indeed. I didn’t have the patience to wait for the launch of the V3 model back then and don’t exactly regret the decision as performance wise there wasn’t a night and day difference between the two variants and I particularly like the engineering quality of the panels of V2 over V3.


Start of the Sportsbike Journey...with some much required blessings!

The R15 V2 was a precision sports bike with near perfect handling dynamics (Courtesy to the Pirelli Tyres I had upgraded to in the second half of the bike’s life with me), hard charging 150cc mill, decent braking and most importantly no frills or gimmicky features to talk of. Heck it didn’t have ABS too and so the braking was very predictable even in the last few millimeters of travel with no ABS intervention to talk of. The 35000 kms of travel over various terrains and innumerous experiences are absolutely unforgettable (worth mentioning was the blastic drive down the Munnar-Theni Road; the road being the best I have driven so far)


One of the many long trips....this one being from Chennai-Coimbatore-Mangalore-Chennai


Crucial tyre change before the Munnar Trip...tyres being a pair of Pirelli Angle CITYs.


During the Munnar trip...


The longest (non-stop) so far on the R15; Chennai - Pune, during shifting the vehicle between the two cities.

I’m SPEED…

Fast forward to 2022 and I was getting increasingly impatient to upgrade from the single cylinder 150cc mill to a more displacement, smoothness in the top end and a definite lust for more top speed as I wanted to experience the adrenaline rush and the dynamics of the vehicle at high speeds. My criteria's made the buying decision ever so simple. I needed a brand new (that eliminates the option of second hand options) double cylinder sports bike not exceeding a budget of 5lakhs onroad, and that led to only one option currently on sale, the Kawasaki Ninja 300.
So the purchase was very straightforward; go to the nearest Kawasaki dealer and put down the booking amount and choose the color; which in my case was Candy Lime Green. Luckily I got a free upgrade to the 2022 color from Kawasaki which looks much brighter than the same color of the previous version.


The prefect upgrade! Pic taken during delivery.

Since I was tight on my budget, the upgrades were already decided; a set of stickier rubber from Apollo (Alpha H1 Radials) and PPF coating on the tank (learnt from the R15V experience that the tank gets a crazy amount of scratches from the tank bag and your pants near thighs area!). The delivery date was set to 7th of May, and I was ready for my near perfect upgrade. Why a perfect upgrade, you ask me; the Ninja has the same ethos as the R15 V2 of being no nonsense buy with (if R15 was a Corner craver, the Ninja is a Speedster) no frills or gimmicky stuff! So the Ninja journey started with blessings from parents and almighty Lord Hanuman.


The best cost to performance ratio tyres for the 300cc segment! Apollo Alpha H1's. Swapped the MRFs to these on day 1 itself.


Much required PPF coating on the tank, to save the excellent paint job!


Taking the blessings...

Some noteworthy points are as follows:

Highs:

1. Wicked of an engine which is absolutely docile at low speeds and totally changes its character after 7000 RPM! Ballistic Performance in the top end as I wanted it to be.
2. Super stable handling in the corners due to the long wheelbase. (which is also it’s enemy as I found out later)
3. Excellent Quality and a special mention to the paint job!
4. Good headlights!
5. Excellent driver ergos.
6. A near perfect sports tourer considering the good ride quality, smooth engine and the massive 17L tank (The only thing holding it away from taking away the trophy being that scant 135mm of Ground Clearance!)
7. Not a fuel guzzler considering the performance on offer. Constantly gives 22kmpl even when wringing the throttle all day long and about 26kmpl if driven in a calm manner.

Lows:

1. That long wheelbase coupled with the low Ground Clearance value of 135mm (and not 140mm as marketed by Kawasaki) is the best recipe for scraping the exhaust over the regular nonstandard speedbumps we have here in India.
2. Just adequate brakes with not much feel on the levers (not acceptable for a bike that can go upwards of 180kmph!)
3. Some form over function stuffs are really frustrating - Radiator gets all the muck and dirt from the front wheel and having an aftermarket rear tyre hugger is a must without which your Pillion will definitely be fuming on you during rainy days!
4. Adding to the pillion's unwillingness to come with you for long journey's is that seat which is a bit on higher side to get on (especially with the modification I did as we'll come to know soon) and the sharp taper in the profile towards the rear.
5. Devoid of any features what so ever! No Gear Position Indicator, Fuel Consumption Data or any sort of Bluetooth Features! (By God's grace there is a clock provided in the console)

A much required rear tyre mudguard to save yourself from an upset pillion!

Modifications on the bike and the riding gear:

1. Ride Height Increasing Rear Suspension Linkages (as you'll read ahead).
2. 5mm height handlebar riser.
3. Saddle bag stay cum pillion grab handle.
4. Side stand extender for the raised ride height.

Increased ride height (GC) due to the change from stock linkages to 162GC linkages.


A much required modification after the ergonomics get a bit aggressive caused by the installation of the ride height increasing rear suspension linkages. Above image shows two 5mm spacers installed under the main clip-on, one out of which was removed considering safety reasons, as the clip-on has to get positively locked and safely secured with the front fork tube, which protruded only 10mm from the triple clamp surface.


The modified (famously called UGLY) pillion grab handle....

....converted into saddlebag stays!


The improved lean angle of the bike with the side stand extender. It is must have after the increase in ride height, as can be seen from the first image in the gif!

All above modifications being self engineered and manufactured using the help of local vendors.

From my R15 days have been wearing all the required riding gears which includes a good MT helmet (one for R15 and other for Ninja; both colour matching with the respective bikes!), riding jacket from Cramster (albeit a gifted one by my friends), leg guard from Aspida (Bionic), riding shoes from BBG and riding gloves from Rynox (Air GT).

The Real Deal…

It didn’t take even a day for me to realize how real was the ground clearance issue of the bike as highlighted by the innumerous youtube videos I went through drooling over the looks of the bike before purchase. I live in an area of Bangalore where the road is in potholes and speed bumps are even better than the road itself! With one of my lightest pillion onboard, the bike easily scraped over one of the speedbumps leaving a huge scar over my heart! And it kept on repeating however slow I would ride (Bumping up the preload is not an easy task to start with because of the placement of the shock absorber adjuster and increasing preload doesn't actually change the GC number) and riding crosswards over speedbumps is not always possible due to traffic oncoming or following you!


The actual GC readings at the bottom of the bike. 140mm at fairing front edge, 135mm at exhaust CATCON, 137mm at wheelbase center again near the CATCON (Catalytic Converter).

So I had to solve this issue technically. Before I had even purchased the bike, I had noticed that it had a similar rear suspension setup to that of the R15, which is a linked type monoshock wherein the shock absorbers aren’t mounted directly on the swingarm. Rather it is a 4 bar linkage mechanism including the shock absorber that make up the rear suspension.

And from some past experience with some racing guys in Chennai I quickly recalled the fact that I can play with the ride height with the linkage length. Simply put, this suspension design is such that, as the eye to eye length of the linkage reduces, the ride height increases. The term Jack-up Kit used abroad for these reduced length linkages is most appropriate as the rear of the bike predominately gets lifted up compared to the front. For example when raising height from 137mm at the center of the wheelbase to 155mm (addition of 18mm), the height at the front edge of the fairing actually rises by only 7mm. But more on that later.

The Disappointment…

And so the hunt for the linkages started. I had to put questions on the Kawasaki Ninja 300 Global forum to get some relevant aftermarket suppliers of the linkages. I did get a contact of a German supplier called bikefarmMV and ordered the linkage from them costing me almost 4K including shipping to Sweden from where my friend was expected to bring it to India. To my surprise the purchase became a nightmare and I never received the product along with my money gone. The supplier never shared the tracking ID with me, which led to suspicion that he never actually sent the linkage to the shared address at all! Later my suspicions were confirmed by the google reviews of the supplier wherein people have had similar issues! This horrendous experience led me to come up with a solution of my own.
From some values to start with, as suggested by one of the forum users on the Global Kawasaki Ninja 300 Forum, who himself had installed a Rear Suspension Lift Linkage enabling a 10mm seat height increase, I started doing my own iterations using cheap steel and lasercut of the required eye to eye length linkages.


The innumerous iterations (done due to lack of virtual model of the bike)...

The initial days of installation of the linkages were painstaking ones as I was still figuring out the proper way and required tools for installation of the linkages (yes one can say that I'm a stubborn engineer who wants to learn everything by experience). In the initial days I was just using the car jack below the engine to lift up the front with a friend holding the bike steady from the rear, to install the progressively reduced length linkages. Using just the front jack was quite risky as the bike is lifted up on just one point and there were twice harry moments where the bike slipped off the jack (definitely not recommended to try all this out). Those mistakes immediately prompted me to buy a paddock stand which made the linkage changing affair quite easy. Though later I realized that the front wheel stopper and under engine jack combination was a fair bit better and less scary than the paddock and jack combination. But the front wheel stopper being significantly costlier compared to the paddock stand, I continued using the paddock stand, albeit with utmost care.


The installation setup requiring the rear paddock stand and a car jack under the engine, to release/loosen the stock linkages and installation of the new one.


The flat circular point on the oilpan where the car jack has to be placed.

The results of some of the iterations are as follows:


All above measurements are in mm and with the stock setting of the shockabsorber. The stock shockabsorber setting being the best compromise between comfort and handling balance.

The Triumph…

Now that I found out the solution, it ignited a thought in my mind to help other fellow owners of the bike with this issue, by commercializing the solution with a affordable price tag to keep the product accessible to everyone, especially those who might have went broke after buying this bike, paying for it’s astronomical servicing cost! This led to the start of a small side venture to keep me engaged on weekends and indulge in my hobby of designing solutions for my own vehicle issues/upgrades and the first product being the Explorer Series of Rear Suspension Linkages. The major task for the product was to get the appropriate values of eye to eye of the linkages to get the right amount of Ground Clearance for the given loading condition (Combination of Rider + Pillion + Luggage weights) and corresponding height of the rider. The height criteria was very important because a specific linkage resulting in increased GC would also lift the rear of the bike to the point that a person of lower height would not get his feet flat on the ground! (which is definitely not recommended). With the help of my friends (varying in measure of height and weight) I was able to achieve following product specifications:



Final GC value is the one at the wheelbase center as that is the point which is most vulnerable from the concept of break over angle.

It took 3 months to get the right values and another 3 months of testing by piling up the kilometers on the different linkages; in the process my own bike exhaust also had to take multiple scratches and hits. But the price paid was well worth it as I was able to solve the issue completely from a technical point of view. Hope it helps all others who buy this product!


The 170GC linkage installed on the bike.


Fully loaded during the Kanyakumari trip....both rear suspension linkages and saddle stays were thoroughly tested at high speeds, corners, bad roads and everything in between.

And the journey continues...

With the increase in ride height and the stand being stock, the bike was bound to lean more on the side stand. Had to design a lightweight, compact and durable side stand extender for the same. And so comes the one as shown below. The design is multilayer with first 2 and last 2 layers being made out of steel and the center layer being made of aluminium to keep weight of the assembly under check(too much weight will lead to drastic decrease in life of the side stand spring). Total height increase being 15mm from stock stand. Have been testing the extender for couple of months now, with no issues to report.


The side stand extender as installed on the stock side stand.


The design of the side stand extender....weighs in at 230grams.

Recently, I have got my R15 shifted to Bangalore for the daily office runabouts (the R15 feels far lighter and thus agile compared to the ninja in bumper to bumper traffic and in the narrowness of the city roads) and the ninja for the weekend trips, so both bikes get their fair share of odometer readings. The R15 stands at 43K kms and the ninja at 11K. Have been to only one long trip (>1000kms) on the ninja so far, the one to Kanyakumari from Bangalore, along with a lot of shorter trips of about 200-300kms one way.

With this I come to end of this exhaustive post and hope everyone enjoyed reading the same. Would be more than happy to receive comments related to style of writing (this being my first long post, with high probability of making unknown mistakes), content or data shared.

[Axe77]

What a thread!! You owe us a whole lot more for keeping us in waiting for 4 years for such a cracking review.

The Kawi 300 is a brilliant starter foray into the bigger CC segment and its nice to see it being fully utilised by you. Love your writing and the absolutely unbiased opinions. Do keep the updates coming thick and fast, just like the bike.

Wish you thousands of kms of happy riding.

Cheers.

[Boringrider]

Good post for those who understand the technicalities. I was expecting more of a comprehensive ownership review in the more conventional style.

[jackofsome]

Congratulations on the purchase, fantastic all rounder this. I suggest, remove the unnecessary bits, make it as light as you can, and take it to a track.

Motorcycling will never be the same again.

[Sheel]

Nice to see you assigning roles to each bikes, else, once an upgrade comes in, lots of riders do not ride the less powerful / old bike. I had the V1 R15, the Indonesian (probably) one and I still miss it. Stay and ride safe & thanks for sharing.

[WalterWhite]

Congrats and thank you for sharing your views on the mean green machine. I will take home the 2023 Lime Green model in August. Wish you a happy mile munching, please stay safe.

Originally Posted by Paavan Shetty

The Real Deal…

It didn’t take even a day for me to realize how real was the ground clearance issue of the bike as highlighted by the innumerous Youtube videos I went through drooling over the looks of the bike before purchase. I live in an area of Bangalore where the road is in potholes and speed bumps are even better than the road itself! With one of my lightest pillion onboard, the bike easily scraped over one of the speedbumps leaving a huge scar over my heart! And it kept on repeating however slow I would ride (Bumping up the preload is not an easy task to start with because of the placement of the shock absorber adjuster and increasing preload doesn't actually change the GC number) and riding crosswards over speedbumps is not always possible due to traffic oncoming or following you!

Attachment 2465355
The actual GC readings at the bottom of the bike. 140mm at fairing front edge, 135mm at exhaust CATCON, 137mm at wheelbase center again near the CATCON (Catalytic Converter).

From the looks, I think you are referring to the BS3 Ninja here. Which has 135mm of GC. But with the BS6 model, the GC has gone up by 5mm. So does the Kawasaki site also tells the same, now the GC is 140mm. I know its not that much of an increase. But it helps..

[Legal_Eagle]

Hi, first of all, I really appreciate your patience and perseverance in solving the most difficult problem faced by N300 owners. Secondly I am glad that you did because I recently acquired a wonderfully kept, pre-worshipped Ninja 300 from fellow T-Bhpian, Gururaj.

I replaced my Int650 with Ninja 300 with the primary aim of touring. The N300 satisfies my present requirement and I am quite happy about it. But the fly in the ointment is the GC issue. I’m really happy that one of our own has come up with the solution, but I have a question, the usage of PL linkage would increase the rear height making the seating position more aggressive. Is there any workaround? As per my research, using handlebar riser and a 110/80 front tire may be able to solve it to some extent. I need your valuable input on this.

[Paavan Shetty]

Originally Posted by Axe77

What a thread!! You owe us a whole lot more for keeping us in waiting for 4 years for such a cracking review.

The Kawi 300 is a brilliant starter foray into the bigger CC segment and its nice to see it being fully utilised by you. Love your writing and the absolutely unbiased opinions. Do keep the updates coming thick and fast, just like the bike.

Thanks for the kind words and glad you liked it. Will keep updating the thread with the self made and other upgrades that I will keep doing on my bikes. The whole aim (don't want to sound like a saint by any means, but those are the thoughts) is to spread awareness and know how of the various technical upgrades one can do without breaking the bank. But yes it needs a lot of effort, investment of time and knowhow, starting with curiosity to know more.

Actually on the R15 too I have made some self made modifications like the addition of hazard lamp (yes there are readymade scuffs available for this in the aftermarket, but then I have the itch to do everything myself as it helps me make mistakes and learn from those), 12V outlet for using tyre air filler or phone charger and Radiator guard (inspired by the stock one that comes with the Bajaj Dominar). Some of the pics are attached below.


This radiator guard was designed and manufactured using laser cut, some manual cutting and welding; material being Stainless Steel (I was too lazy then to go and find a vendor for powder coating for just one item).


Upon installation on the bike one can draw it's clear inspiration from the unit found on the Dominar. The aim was to save the radiator fins from the strong water jets which are used carelessly by a lot of water washing guys. An experiment which cost the bike an extra kilo because of the use of steel!


Got this switch (the headlamp ON/OFF switch from pre "Always ON Headlamp ON" era) installed on my bike and used it for 12V socket ON/OFF (1st position) and for hazardlamps circuit (second position).


The 12V socket installation on the panel near the speedometer.


Clean look! Agree?


Not so much here!


The application...


Hazard lamps in action. The self made circuit consisted of an additional blinker relay, normal automotive relay, diode and some wires cleanly running through the right side switchgear connector (it had two blank positions available in it due to deletion of pilot lamp and main headlamp ON functions). I have most of the chemistry set for making wiring harness and other mechanical changes in the vehicle. Learnt wiring harness detailing from my teammates in the college racing team.

Someone would now complain that is this a Ninja 300 thread really! But this stuff can be done for the ninja too, if I had the time for it.

[Paavan Shetty]

Originally Posted by Boringrider

Good post for those who understand the technicalities. I was expecting more of a comprehensive ownership review in the more conventional style.

I purposefully wrote the post in a different style, not to be mistaken as a comprehensive review, of which there are tons of good ones on this forum. Rather the aim here was to introduce myself, my journey so far and the experiments I have been doing with my Ninja, which have been the most difficult and effective one's so far.

Regarding the ownership itself, including some important notes which would have made the previous post a bit too long.
It has been exactly one year after buying the Ninja with 11K on the odometer and 3 paid services done (there is no concept of free services here!), each of them costing in the range of 6.5-7.5K, comprising of just the regular consumables replacements. There has been no major complaints/issues with the bike so far. I have been using 95 Octane Petrol only on my bike from day one to keep the engine and the performance as healthy as possible.

Front Brakes pads I got changed myself to ceramic one's at 9.5K kms on the odometer. The ceramic pads do increase the brake feel a bit, but a proper hardware change is required for any noticeable change in the braking performance. Planning for the radial master cylinder front brake setup from BREMBO or RCB as a proper upgrade over the stock setup in the coming months. Worth noticing is the point that the CKD unit Ninja 300s, the one's before the 2018 localized models, had hugely better brake feel with their Japanese made components over the current Endurance made one's. Interested people can get those components from old Ninja 300 owners who are eager to sell off their bike, part by part, and make a good difference in the feel of some of the components like the brakes.

The only time I faced a minor issue was the horn wire getting cut on it's own (here comes the famous Kawasaki Wiring Harness issues!) during a trip. I limped back home using a home electrical wire piece joining the circuit (I can't imagine myself riding without the horn on our roads!) and repaired the wiring upon reaching home. Definitely didn't want to visit the service center for such a small issue wherein they put some astronomical labor costs for doing almost nothing. Had experienced the same in the below instance.

When I changed my tyres (Tyres costed 11K for the set), the tyre guy misplaced the cotter pin used for positive locking of the castle nuts used at both the front and rear axle. He gave some unacceptable (purely from engineering point of view) justifications for the same. Went to service center to get the same, was charged 150Rs for each of the two cotter pins and 150Rs labor charge for their installation! That cotter pin costs 5Rs in the hardware market and hardly takes two minutes to install!

Also worth noticing is the high spare parts cost. Recently had a minor fall in the parking lot, got a dent on the exhaust cover (the shinny steel part you see in the photos) and tank and minor starches on the right side fairing (got all items cover under insurance). The cost of those parts and some other I know are as follows:
1. Exhaust cover - 18K
2. Tank - 25K
3. Side fairing - 5K
4. RH hand brake lever - 550Rs
5. RH leg brake lever - 4K
6. Clutch Cable - 3K
7. Accelerator Cable - 3K
8. Headlight Bulb - 800Rs (recently had to change one of the bulbs and I purchased Philips one from online for about 150Rs!)

So the ownership aspect of these exotic bikes (Donno about brands like Honda) is where all the toll comes from and not the cost the bike itself.

Hope all this information helps a bit.

[Paavan Shetty]

Originally Posted by jackofsome

Congratulations on the purchase, fantastic all rounder this. I suggest, remove the unnecessary bits, make it as light as you can, and take it to a track.

Motorcycling will never be the same again.

I do agree with you, but the financials of track days have still not come on my cards. For now with the limited resources, I find myself some very good ghat roads to quench my thirst for enthusiastic riding (with utmost care for self and other road users).

About the weight reduction stuffs, have removed the pillion grab rail totally from it's roots (and not just the grab rail itself) and the saree guard as you can see in the images below. Those two weigh around 4-5kgs!





Also worth noticing is the fact that the ride height increasing rear suspension linkages, contribute hugely towards improving the handling too, as the installation results in decrease of steering rake angle (rear getting lifted). This transforms the Ninja 300's handling drastically as you can see from the below images of the tyre grip patch when I went up and down the Kodaikanal Hill (had my pillion onboard for the extra amount of grip from the rears!). The increased grip and betterment in handling of the bike was also echoed by fellow professional rider colleagues at my office, who described my bike (installed with the 162GC link and the Apollos) handling a bit better than that of the new KTM RC 390 with it's Metzelers (as tested on TAL drag strip with a slalom course; though the handlebar leverage is better on the RC in my opinion)!

[Paavan Shetty]

Originally Posted by WalterWhite

From the looks, I think you are referring to the BS3 Ninja here. Which has 135mm of GC. But with the BS6 model, the GC has gone up by 5mm. So does the Kawasaki site also tells the same, now the GC is 140mm. I know its not that much of an increase. But it helps..

No, I'm referring to current available BS6 Ninja's. The pic that I have used to show the GC values at various points on the bike, is the pic of the first gen ninja 300 which came in 2013 without ABS.etc. I used that pic as it was the most high resolution one I could find on google for explaining the stuffs.

I have measured the GC values at the mentioned locations myself with a unique method which doesn't involve either measuring tape (which induces a lot of error; thread method would be a better bet but is a bit time consuming too) or a huge pile of items. I used two paper straws pushed one inside each other to give telescopic fork like effect and then using the same under the bike (with someone holding the bike steady straight; best method would be to get the bike front wheel on the front wheel lock) to measure the GC by increasing or lowering it's height to fit in the gap between the bike bottom and the ground; taking it out of the gap slowly and then measuring that length using a scale.

I hope you understood that.

[WalterWhite]

Originally Posted by Paavan Shetty

No, I'm referring to current available BS6 Ninja's. The pic that I have used to show the GC values at various points on the bike, is the pic of the first gen ninja 300 which came in 2013 without ABS.etc. I used that pic as it was the most high resolution one I could find on google for explaining the stuffs.

Fair enough. I do understand what you described.

I have another question for you. Does upsizing the stock tyres to Alpha H1 have any impact on mileage?

Originally Posted by Paavan Shetty

Also worth noticing is the high spare parts cost. Recently had a minor fall in the parking lot, got a dent on the exhaust cover (the shinny steel part you see in the photos) and tank and minor starches on the right side fairing (got all items cover under insurance). The cost of those parts and some other I know are as follows:

Another thing about the ownership cost. You can consider installing frame sliders. If it had already been installed, it would have minimized the impact on body parts. But still, the spare parts cost is high even after localization. Now think about the cost of the above-mentioned parts before localization. Should be 3X.

Originally Posted by Paavan Shetty

So the ownership aspect of these exotic bikes (Donno about brands like Honda) is where all the toll comes from and not the cost the bike itself.

This is so true. Honda is comparatively cheaper to maintain. But they compensate for this in the pricing of the bike. The best examples are CB300R, CB500X and the list goes on... But no matter what it is the refinement, reliability, and engineering that attracts me to the Japs.

[Paavan Shetty]

Originally Posted by Legal_Eagle

Hi, first of all, I really appreciate your patience and perseverance in solving the most difficult problem faced by N300 owners. Secondly I am glad that you did because I recently acquired a wonderfully kept, pre-worshipped Ninja 300 from fellow T-Bhpian, Gururaj.

I replaced my Int650 with Ninja 300 with a primary aim of touring. The N300 satisfies my present requirement and I am quite happy about it. But the fly in the ointment is the GC issue. I’m really happy that one of our own has come up with the solution, but I have a question, the usage of PL linkage would increase the rear height making the seating position more aggressive. Is there any workaround? As per my research, using handlebar riser and a 110/80 front tire may be able to solve it to some extent. I need your valuable input on this.

It's interesting to know that you switched from one touring machine to other both of which have similar levels of performance, the difference being the character of the two vehicles. What was your intention behind going to the N300?

Yes you are right; handlebar risers and 110/80 section front tyre will help in relaxing the changed ergos. But as per my knowledge 110/80 tyre spec is available for tyres used in lesser performance bikes, whereas the good tyre options for the 300cc segment are all 110/70 section tyres. About the handlebar risers, there was a foreign brand providing 25mm riser for the Ninja 300 in the past (a similar stuff is discussed in this post of XBHP: https://www.xbhp.com/talkies/motorcy...dle-bar-risers). It was just a 25mm aluminium spacer between the triple clamp and the clip-on. But according to my engineering knowledge this design is a flawed one, with below explanation.


The clip-on removed from it's mount on the triple clamp. The clip-on has 3 holes for engagement. 1. Big hole has the fork tube going into it 2. Other two holes are for bolt engagement.


The 5mm plates that I designed and manufactured. They mimic the profile of the clip-on bottom surface for obvious reasons of aesthetics.


Here you can see the amount of protrusion of the front fork tube from the triple clamp surface. It is not uniform, as the triple clamp surface is at some angle (That same angle is passed onto the clip-on, which decides the handle bar closeness to driver seat).


Here the two 5mm thick plates are placed, and as one can understand, there is no part of the fork tube left, to get engaged with the clip-on directly; the clip-on will then be holding onto the triple clamp only using the 2 bolts and those 2 will have to take all of the handlebar torque, which is not how the stock setup is designed and is actually unsafe for the triple casting to say the least (additional point to remember is that with the added height using the riser, additional torque will come on the bolting joint under hard braking, emergency conditions or when the bike falls on one side with the handlebar coming in contact of the ground).

In conclusion, if the design of the riser is as shown in second image or the way the foreign accessory was available, then the riser height can't exceed 5mm, which is not a lot to give a predictable difference in ergos. I have been using the 5mm riser for the last 3 months, it does give a slightly better feeling, but the effects are not predictably different. I have been working on a design which will be fool proof from engineering point of view, but the cost of the same with it being made out of aluminium (to keep weight down) won't be as cheap as the linkages or the side stand extender.

[Paavan Shetty]

Originally Posted by WalterWhite

I have another question for you. Does upsizing the stock tyres to Alpha H1 have any impact on mileage?

I can't answer that question because I never used the stock MRFs on my Ninja.

Originally Posted by WalterWhite

Another thing about the ownership cost. You can consider installing frame sliders. If it had already been installed, it would have minimized the impact on body parts. But still, the spare parts cost is high even after localization. Now think about the cost of the above-mentioned parts before localization. Should be 3X.

Yes I had the frame slider in my bucket list while purchasing the bike, but didn't have the budget as I wanted the R&G one only. This month I have placed order for the same and hope I will not incur any further pain (more than cost of repairs which are actually taken care by insurance, the time taken by the service center is crazy; about 1-1.5 months!) related to the bike having minor falls.

[Legal_Eagle]

Originally Posted by Paavan Shetty

Thanks for your kind words. Hope you find all relevant data on the website.

It's interesting to know that you switched from one touring machine to other both of which have similar levels of performance, the difference being the character of the two vehicles. What was your intention behind going to the N300?

About the handlebar risers, there was a foreign brand providing 25mm riser for the Ninja 300 in the past (a similar stuff is discussed in this post of XBHP: https://www.xbhp.com/talkies/motorcy...dle-bar-risers). It was just a 25mm aluminium spacer between the triple clamp and the clip-on. But according to my engineering knowledge this design is a flawed one, with below explanation.

I have been working on a design which will be fool proof from engineering point of view, but the cost of the same with it being made out of aluminium (to keep weight down) won't be as cheap as the linkages or the side stand extender.

Thank you for your detailed explanation, I learnt something new and valuable. I had come across the 25mm risers from Black Path and one more company. And now that I know it is not advisable, I will desist from ordering for one.

My intention was simple. I wanted N300 or Yamaha R3. There were not many R3 options in the pre-worshipped market. So I decided to get a well maintained Ninja 300. Had shortlisted 3 bikes, but went ahead with the 1st one I went to see, the primary reason being the seller is also a Tbhp member. I change my bikes frequently, this is my 14th bike in 19 years of motorcycling, have owned almost everything under 500cc available in our market, but never a Ninja 300 or R3. Regarding the intention of going for N300 after Int650, I wanted something small, agile with power available on tap, flickable, premium, acceptable gas mileage, refined, reliable and comfortable for some touring. I was never confident of doing anything above 100kmph on the Int650 even on empty stretches. It lacked the front end feel, lacked braking capabilities, was not so comfortable for touring, fouling foot pegs when pushing the bike, weight. When I say weight, it means a lot of weight (215kgs wet), the last straw was when I twisted my ankle on a slight incline when taking the bike out in reverse from my apartment parking. That is when I realised, you need to build proper muscles before handling such bikes and I am now planning to join gym. What I loved in Int650 was the locomotive like engine (it is so torquey, lively, smooth, musical) and the communicative chassis.

Thank you for coming up with a viable solution, it really is a boon for N300 owners and I wish you find more such solutions in future for average users like myself.